Zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide are used in sorbent dialysis to remove waste and unwanted solutes from spent dialysate. Generally, zirconium phosphate removes ammonium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium ions from dialysate while the zirconium oxide removes anions such as phosphate or fluoride ions. Both materials are usually packaged together in a cartridge of some type or packed in separate cartridges. Usually, sorbent cartridges are discarded and replaced after use. The discarded sorbent cartridges are broken down and the individual materials separated from each other. Because zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide are expensive and rechargeable, sorbent re-processors treat the recovered zirconium phosphate and zirconium oxide with chemical solutions. Safe disposal of the chemical waste from solutions used to recharge the materials requires additional steps such as neutralizing the recharging solutions. Conventional methods drive up costs and infrastructure requirements, and increase complexity and waste.
Hence, there is a need for systems and methods that can recharge sorbent materials without the need to separately treat and dispose of the chemical solutions used. There is also a need for a system that can take advantage of solutions necessary to recharge both zirconium oxide and zirconium phosphate to allow for automatic neutralization of the recharging solutions, thus allowing safe disposal without additional treatment. The need extends to coordinating recharging process for both zirconium oxide and zirconium phosphate when only one cartridge is being recharged.